[NOTE --
B. H. Fuller was a pioneer of Pawnee county, Nebraska,
in which he held different county offices.]

POLITICAL CONVENTIONS

335

addition of the unquestionably loyal members from
Nebraska to its forces in Congress, overlooked the hostility
of the people to assumption of the burdens of statehood. The
hope of the republicans was the fear of the democrats, and
the position of the latter was frankly avowed.
The vote of Nebraska as a state may be
counted to elect Abraham to a second term; and besides, it
is admitted there are some who suppose the territory to be
republican, and in the event of its so being they begin to
look forward to the good time coming when, under the aegis
of a constitutional provision, negro equality shall
culminate in miscegination, and numberless fat offices shall
be bestowed upon the faithful leaders of the party as a
reward for services, sufferings, and wear and tear of
conscience in singing hallelujahs to an administration the
most imbecile, reckless, profligate and corrupt that has
ever existed. The democracy will oppose the whole thing from
"stem to stern." . . Our taxes are about as high as we can
bear, and if we come in they must be ten fold higher . . .
It will require $60,000 a year to uphold a state government.
Hitherto territories have been admitted after a census has
shown a sufficient population to entitle them to a
representative in congress. No inquiry as to the number of
people, none as to their wishes.
When the Omaha Republican showed
the inconsistency of the democratic organ by pointing out
that its editor, Alfred H. Jackson, had himself offered the
statehood resolutions and memorial at the late session of
the legislature, all he could say in reply was that his
resolution was intended to let the people decide whether
they wanted a constitutional convention or not, while the
act of Congress required them to vote directly on the
question of accepting or rejecting the constitution which
the convention had been authorized to frame. The democratic
press effectively emphasized the objection of increased
expense involved in sustaining a state government. It was
argued that the present taxes were five mills on the dollar,
aggregating $45,163.86; and that the state would have to
raise $58,000, now annually paid by congressional
appropriation, besides the $45,000 now raised by
taxation.
Dr. George L. Miller was president and J.
Sterling Morton chairman of the committee on resolutions of
the democratic territorial convention which was held at
Plattsmouth, June 22, for the purpose of choosing delegates
to the national convention, and of taking action on the
question of statehood. The resolutions adopted congratulated
the democracy of Nebraska that an overwhelming majority of
the members of the constitutional convention stood pledged
to adjourn sine die without action, thus saving an expense
of $25,000 involved in preparing a constitution; that it had
forestalled an election (on the question of adopting the
constitution) at which the "money of the administration
poured out like water would have been employed upon the
corruptible"; that it had forestalled drafts for the army,
and that an "iniquity has been emphatically rebuked, which
would have made 30,000 people the sovereign equal of New
York, Ohio, or Illinois, in order that three electoral votes
might be added to the purchase by which a corrupt
administration is seeking to perpetuate its power." It was
also resolved that the authors of the resolutions have
"heard with astonishment that certain federal office-holders
in this territory propose to force the burden of a state
government upon this people by cunningly devised oaths to be
administered to the convention." While the resolutions
commended "the independent and truly patriotic members of
the republican, and other parties who lent us their aid to
thwart these purposes of unequaled infamy, it must be
remembered that the plan by which these inestimable benefits
are assured to us was conceived, carried forward and
accomplished by the democracy of Nebraska." It will be seen
that the "threatenings and slaughter" which breathe through
these heroics are entirely at outs with the general negative
and acquiescent mood and policy heretofore assumed by the
democrats during the war, as well as with the action of the
leading democratic members of the legislature touching this
subject. But whatever we may think of the discretion of the
resolutions, they were distinctly Mortonian, and they show
that in his youth, as always after, Morton was no fool who
would

336

HISTORY OF NEBRASKA

[NOTE --
Daniel H. Wheeler was a pioneer of Plattesmouth,
Nebraska, and prominent in politics]

POLITICAL CONVENTIONS

337

halt at the stumbling block of consistency. The statesman
who has a mind to hesitate before consistency is already
lost. Besides, how recently had Morton been for statehood
with much less population than at this time. The democratic
party was now in such an uncertain condition that it could
win nothing but negative victories, and the republicans
assisted it in winning this one by timid approval of the
statehood proposition which amounted to less than
half-heartedness. A party organ, for example, kept its
ammunition in store during the whole campaign, and then
after it was lost exploded it all at once in the following
fashion:

What have the copperheads, then,
succeeded in cajoling their "republican friends" into:
First, a resistance to the draft; the
main argument used was "If we have a state we'll have a
draft."
Second, they have assisted to defeat the
constitutional amendment, to pass which the vote of three
members of congress from Nebaska (sic) was necessary; . . .
which the copperheads style as one of the "president's
infamous projects."
Third, they have virtually said to the
government: We are mean enough to force you to support us
while we know you need every dollar you can scrape to whip
out the rebellion.

The professed fear by the democrats of
cunningly devised oaths" was an insinuation that it was the
plan of Secretary Paddock to administer an oath to the
members of the convention which would aid them to remain in
session until a constitution should be framed.
The delegates to the national democratic
convention, chosen by the Plattsmouth convention, were J.
Sterling Morton, Andrew J. Poppleton, Joseph I. Early,
Erastus B. Chandler, and John Rickley. The opposition
classed all these delegates as "unadulterated
Vallandighammers," an imputation which was excused if not
fully justified by the inexplicably hostile expression of
the democratic press and platforms of the territory against
the national administration and its war measures; and which
continued unabated from this time on until the amendments to
the constitution were adopted.
The republican territorial committee met
February 12, 1864, and by its own act disbanded to go into
the new "union" party, and forty of the fifty-two members of
the legislature endorsed their action; and afterwards six
members of the old organization -- Floris Van Reuth of
Dakota county; Eliphus H. Rogers, Dodge; Dr. Gilbert C.
Monell, Douglas; Daniel H. Wheeler, Cass; William H. H.
Waters, Otoe; David Butler, Pawnee -- met and chose
themselves delegates to the Union national convention at
Baltimore. The Republican rebelled against this
action as usurpation, and the self-appointed delegates
afterward submitted to the choice of delegates to a
convention.
At the meeting of the committee, held
April 26th, all the members were present by person or proxy
except two, and they adopted a "union" platform as
follows:

Resolved, That the only basis of this
union organization shall be unquestioned loyalty, and
unconditional support of the congress of the United States
in their war measures, especially in confiscating the
property [of] rebels in arms, unconditional support
of the proclamations of President Lincoln, especially his
emancipation proclamation, the arming of negroes, or any
other constitutional measure deemed necessary by the
administration to crush out this wicked rebellion, with the
least cost of time, treasure and blood of loyal men.
And whereas, since the adoption of this
platform, the rebel authorities have practiced brutal
barbarities upon our colored soldiers, we hereby affirm the
duty of this government to afford white and colored soldiers
equal protection, and to retaliate strictly upon white
rebels any barbarity practiced upon colored soldiers of the
union army. A colored man once freed by this government and
enlisted as a soldier in its defense, is entitled to its
protection in all respects as a free citizen.
Adjourned, sine die.G.
C. MONELL, Chairman.
D. H. WHEELER, Secretary.

The adage, "practice makes perfect" had
ample opportunity for self-vindication in the making of
perfect political citizens in the year 1864, which was even
more than commonly a crowded hour of politics. After the
legislature came the discussion of statehood, then the
conventions relating thereto, and all the

338

HISTORY OF NEBRASKA

[NOTE --
T. S. Clarkson was at one time postmaster of Omaha and
was manager of the Trans-Mississippi exposition,
Omaha, Nebraska.]

POLITICAL CONVENTIONS

339

time there was raging a fierce contest, especially in the
now confident republican, or union party, over the
nominations for delegate to Congress. The principal
republican aspirants were Turner M. Marquett of Cass county;
Phineas W. Hitchcock, Gilbert C. Monell, and John I. Redick,
of Douglas county; Thomas W. Tipton of Nemaha county;
Benjamin F. Lushbaugh of Platte county; and Algernon S.
Paddock, secretary of the territory -- of whose candidacy it
was irreverently said, "His claims are based upon his
extreme politeness . . . The polite, polished, elegant,
accomplished, affable, courteous, pleasant, smiling,
gracious A. S. Paddock." An estimate of Hitchcock by the
same judge was as much more laconic as it was less pleasant
and picturesque -- but that was formulated after his
nomination.
The union convention for nominating a
delegate to Congress met at Nebraska City, August 17th. Mr.
Paddock came within one vote of securing the nomination on
the eighth ballot, Tipton within five on the sixth ballot,
and Marquett within five on the eleventh ballot. The
Nebraskian said of Daily that "if he is no longer
king he is king-maker," which should be interpreted to mean,
in substance, that the unnatural allegiance to him on the
part of the alien North Platte in his last desperate
campaign was remembered and paid for in the making of
Hitchcock, who was nominated on the thirteenth regular
ballot.
At the democratic territorial convention
held at Nebraska City, September 16th, Charles H. Brown of
Omaha favored the nomination of William A. Little, of the
same place, for delegate to Congress, while John B. Bennett
of Otoe county presented the name of Dr. George L. Miller,
also of Omaha. Mr. Brown withdrew Mr. Little's name, since,
as he said, the democracy outside of Douglas county favored
another man, and Dr. Miller was thereupon nominated by
acclamation. Thus it appears that at this early time Mr.
Brown, a man of very positive opinions, of unswerving
purpose, and of dogged pertinacity in forwarding them and in
standing against his opponents, had conceived a hostility to
Dr. Miller which he cherished, with an important influence
on the politics of the commonwealth, to the day of his
death.
In challenging Mr. Hitchcock to a series
of joint debates in the canvass, Dr. Miller sought to make
the most of the fact that his opponent continued to hold the
federal office of United States marshal, and occupied the
equivocal position of ostensible candidate of the "union"
party, which was in fact the republican party with a
pseudonym. Dr. Miller first addressed his opponent by the
title of United States marshal, then as republican nominee
and United States marshal, and again as nominee of the
"union" party and republican United States marshal. But
whatever advantage accrued to the democratic candidate by
virtue of his ability, prestige, and capacity for public
discussion had been yielded by the unwise copperheadism, as
it was effectively called, of his platform; and also by the
influence of the suicidal national democratic platform of
that year --t hough it is likely that any pronounced
democrat running on any platform would have been submerged
in the tide of general opposition to his party which then
ran strongest in the new Northwest. Mr. Hitchcock received a
majority of 1,087 over Dr. Miller out of a total vote of
5,885. This bitter bourbonism, which was now adopted by the
democrats of the territory to their certain undoing, was in
part due to the influence of Vallandigharn and Voorhees on
Morton, who had been admired and assisted by them in his
contest with Daily in 1861. The baneful reactionary course
of these eminent party leaders, which, not at all strangely,
influenced the scarcely mature and impressionable young man,
would have spent itself ineffectually against the strong
individuality and independent judgment of his mature years
-- now more strongly developed in the whilom pupil than in
his early preceptors. The mature Morton, thirty-five years
afterward, strenuously opposed and rebuked a like wayward
radicalism on the part of Voorhees in the great struggle
over the money question.
The tenth session of the legislature
convened January 5, 1865.
Mr. Mason was elected temporary
president